Wrestling Globe Newsletter by Mike Aldren – All the latest professional wrestling news, gossip and occasional opinion direct to your mailbox.
WGN is read by industry power players, many top wrestlers and thousands of fans from all around the world.

6/27 WWE house show results from Reno, NV: Evan Bourne over Mark Henry; R-Truth over Dolph Ziggler; Finlay over Sheamus; Tommy Dreamer over Christian & Jack Swagger in a three-way; Big Show over Great Khali; Kofi Kingston over William Regal; Beth Phoenix & Rosa Mendes over The Bella Twins; CM Punk over Jeff Hardy; and John Cena over The Miz but it wasn’t on TV so it doesn’t count.

Tonight is The Bash PPV from Sacramento. Line up is Randy Orton vs.
Triple H in a best of three series for the WWE title; CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy for the World title, a scramble match (at least this was the plan but we’ve heard Vince has changed his mind over the weekend with this
one) for the ECW title with Tommy Dreamer, Christian, Jack Swagger, Mark Henry and Finlay; John Cena vs. The Miz; Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio with the IC title on the line vs. Rey’s mask; The Colons vs. The Legacy for the Unified tag titles; Melina vs. Michelle McCool for the Women’s title; and Great Khali vs. Dolph Ziggler in a no DQ match.

Kane may be returning tonight as he is due back on the road next week.
We’re told they want to program him with Khali leading up to a Punjabi Prison match at Summerslam. Of course that could and probably will change many times between now and August.

Two episodes of Raw are being taped in San Jose on Monday, and the Smackdown/ECW tapings are in Fresno on Tuesday and for the week after in Bakersfield on Wednesday. The double taping is due to a huge overseas house show tour over the next two week’s. As always we’re looking for readers reports from these shows to you2us@wrestlingglobe.com.

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In a sad story, Paul Burchill’s brother Major Sean Birchall was killed
in Afghanistan on 6/19. Birchall, 33, is one of the highest-ranking
British soldiers ever to be killed in Afghanistan. He died while on a
routine patrol in Helmand province when an improvised explosive device
hit his armoured vehicle. He is survived by his wife Joanna and
18-month-old son Charlie. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/lc4aat.

Lilian Garcia announced on her website that she is leaving WWE when her
contract expires later this year. She said this was the reason behind
the WWE casting call looking for a new female ring announcer: “It is
with a heavy heart that I have made this decision because WWE has been
my family from day one and you, the WWE Universe have always been
incredible to me. The fact is that I am getting married later this year
and have decided to enter into a new phase of my life but I will truly
miss all of you and the WWE tremendously.” Garcia, 35, who will marry
for the second time, has been the voice of Raw and numerous WWE shows
since 1999. This isn’t confirmed but we’re told her last date with the
company will be Summerslam in Los Angeles on 8/23.

Nikki Bella suffered a minor jaw injury during the Diva tag match on
Raw. She isn’t expected to miss any time.

WWE has renamed two more PPV’s. No Mercy is now Hell in a Cell in Newark
on 10/4, and Cyber Sunday is now Annihilation in Pittsburgh on 10/25.
That pretty much confirms the voting concept PPV has been dropped. Hell
in a Cell will likely be a show built around the main events from each
brand in a cell.

Edge was a guest on 94.9 FM in California. You can listen to the
interview at http://tinyurl.com/mtaq2t where he talks about the
possibility of reuniting with Christian and his favorite opponents over
the years.

WWE signed several prospects to developmental this week, including Ray
Leppan, Shane Sewell, Aaron Rodriquez and Aaron Reed. We know little
about Leppan other than he joins former tag partner Justin Angel as the
second South African to sign with WWE. Sewell, 36, you may remember as
‘Hulking Up’ in TNA against Booker T not too long ago. Rodriquez, 33, is
Sicodelico Jr. from Mexico. He is the nephew of Mil Mascaras and cousin
of Dos Caras, Jr. who was also just signed. Reed is a male model and
bodybuilder from Las Vegas. He has no background in wrestling but has
the look they like. He debuted under a mask at the TV tapings on
Thursday squashing Wes Brisco.

Superstars this past week did a 0.9 rating.

MVP is Sherri Shepherd’s date tonight to the BET Awards in Los Angeles.
The show, dedicated to Michael Jackson, goes against The Bash on BET at
8pm ET.

Tony Atlas will be inducted into the New England Pro Wrestling Hall of
Fame in East Providence, RI on 7/12 at the Bright Ridge Club. Atlas’
wife will collect the award it he cannot attend due to his WWE
commitments. Jimmy Hart, Brutus Beefcake and Ted DiBiase Sr. will also
be appearing.

The Palm Springs, CA Desert Sun at http://tinyurl.com/lt4nbu has a story
on CM Punk. He said if he could pick one guy as a dream opponent it
would be Harley Race: “He’s probably the toughest wrestler who ever
lived. I’m also good friends with him. He’s a sweetheart. But yeah, if I
could pick one guy, it’d be Harley. He’s someone I want to wrestle and
never will wrestle. I think he was just like the best wrestler in the
world for almost a decade.”

THQ announced a reorganization with three new business units including a
more focused push into online play for games such as Smackdown vs. Raw.
Story is at http://tinyurl.com/nd2rxl.

The Mercury News at http://tinyurl.com/nt4jay has a story on Cody Rhodes
and Ted DiBiase Jr. to push Monday’s Raw in San Jose. Rhodes made an
interesting observation: “We were at the Verizon Center in Washington,
D.C., a few months ago… I overheard two of our wrestlers, John Cena
and Dave Batista, talking. Dave looked out at the crowd and said, “I’m
used to seeing lots of pretty girls in this arena, but there are so many
kids. Isn’t this incredible?’ John looked at him and said, ‘Yep, when
there were pretty girls in the arena, it was half full. Now the entire
arena is full.’ ”

Melina is signing autographs at the Save Mart Center in Fresno from 4pm
on Monday.

Apparently if you order The Bash on WWE.com tonight you get a free CM
Punk teddy bear.

TOTAL NONSTOP ACTION WRESTLING NEWS

6/25 Impact TV results from Orlando, FL: Brother Ray vs. Brutus Magnus
was a no contest in a New York Street Fight; Kevin Nash over Abyss;
Taylor Wilde over Daffney in a thumbtacks match; Scott Steiner over
Robert Roode; and James Storm over Booker T by DQ.

Taz will make his first TNA appearance at the Victory Road PPV in
Orlando on 7/19.

At the TV tapings Sarah Stock made her debut as Sarita against Melissa
Flash, better known as Cheerleader Melissa or Raeisha Saeed. The Saeed
character as Kong’s assistant has been dropped and she will work as
Flash moving forward. The match airs in three weeks time.

Sheik Abdul Bashir (Shawn Daivari) signed a new three-year deal this
week.

There will be an interview with Dixie Carter on the TNA website on
Monday. They are teasing she will talk about the WWE. Last time someone
did that it didn’t turn out too well.

Impact this past week did a 1.1 rating.

Bobby Lashley beat Bob Sapp in the first round of their MMA fight in
Biloxi on Saturday. He took Sapp down virtually straight away and mauled
him with strikes until he tapped out. During a radio show appearance in
the lead up to the fight Lashley said that he has a TNA contract on his
office desk waiting to be signed. Its a cross-promotional deal that
allows him to do both MMA and pro wrestling. If he signs TNA will
continue to help Lashley promote his fights.

Velvet Sky and Angelina Love have been added to the WWC Anniversary show
in Puerto Rico on 7/18.

Impact will be broadcast in HD in the UK before the end of the year.
Virgin Media Television who hold the TNA contract plan to roll out high
definition across its network of channels, including Bravo, which airs
all of the TNA shows.

OTHER WRESTLING NEWS

Brian Lawler, son of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler, was arrested at 3
am on Friday on charges of public intoxication. WBBJ-TV in Tennessee
reported that two officers picked him up at a convenience store in
Jackson. The store clerk had called the police after she witnessed him
stumble into a Coke cooler knocking it over. He caused $200 in equipment
damage. According to the police report once he was taken into custody,
Lawler became belligerent and told an officer that once the handcuffs
were taken off him, he was going to rip the officer’s head off. The
report stated that Lawler “was taken into custody for his own safety due
to his high level of intoxication.” The report on WBBJ-TV also noted
that Lawler was arrested in February for disorderly conduct. His not so
flattering mug shot at is http://tinyurl.com/qutzrk. The black eyes are
apparently due to an altercation at a bar parking lot last weekend when
he got into a fight with an MMA fighter and several bikers.

Superstar Billy Graham was hospitalized on Friday after he lost the
feeling in his legs. X-Rays showed that two discs in his back had fused
back together on their own. He underwent spinal traction and is now back
at home resting. He was previously scheduled to appear today in Melrose,
MA for a benefit show for Shiloh Pepin, the mermaid girl, to help send
her to a summer camp.

William “Bud” Osborne passed away last Sunday of heart failure. He was
80. Osborne together with brother Ray were a long-time tag team in
Stampede Wrestling in the 60s and 70s. The brothers broke into wrestling
under Stu Hart and held the Stampede tag titles on three separate
occasions in 1969 and 1970.

Torrie Wilson finished as Runner-Up on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of
Here. Actor Lou Diamond Phillips won the show with the most votes.
Torrie has now hired a publicist and is focusing on TV work. She is
talking to one company about bringing out her own exercise DVD.

The federal appeals court ruled this week that Hustler magazine
illegally published nude photos of Nancy Benoit saying a notorious death
doesn’t allow them to publish any unrelated photos they wish. Fox News
has the story at http://tinyurl.com/lsqsal.

The Wrestler actor Scott Siegel was denied bail for his steroid arrest
earlier this year after previously attempting to flee while on bail for
previous drug charges. Story is at http://tinyurl.com/myoluk.

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